Protocol Launcher

Dash ​

Dash is a macOS documentation browser and code snippet manager. Protocol Launcher allows you to generate URLs for searching Dash and working with Dash docsets.

Usage ​

There are two ways to use this library:

  • On-Demand import from subpaths enables tree-shaking and keeps bundles small.
  • Full Import from the root package is convenient but includes all app modules.

Pick On-Demand for production builds; Full Import is fine for quick scripts or demos.

Select Installation Method

On-Demand
Recommended. Optimized for production.
Full Import
Convenient. Good for quick scripts.

URL Methods ​

Dash's official documentation lists dash://?query=... search URLs, dash-plugin://... plugin URLs, dash-feed://... feed subscription URLs, and dash-install://... docset install URLs. This module exposes only those documented forms.

Generate the documented URL that initiates a Dash search.

On-Demand
ts
import { search } from 'protocol-launcher/dash'

const url = search({
  query: 'string',
})
Search Dash

Search Docsets ​

Generate the documented dash:// URL with a Dash docset keyword or Search Profile keyword trigger.

On-Demand
ts
import { searchDocsets } from 'protocol-launcher/dash'

const url = searchDocsets({
  keyword: 'php',
  query: 'printf',
})
Search PHP Docset

Generate the documented plugin URL for sending comma-separated docset keywords and an optional query to Dash.

On-Demand
ts
import { pluginSearch } from 'protocol-launcher/dash'

const url = pluginSearch({
  keys: 'python,django',
  query: 'string',
})
Plugin Search

Subscribe Feed ​

Generate the documented dash-feed:// URL for subscribing Dash to a docset feed. The feed URL is percent-encoded as required by the Dash docset guide.

On-Demand
ts
import { subscribeFeed } from 'protocol-launcher/dash'

const url = subscribeFeed({
  url: 'http://kapeli.com/feeds/NodeJS.xml',
})

Install Docset ​

Generate the documented dash-install:// URL for installing a docset from a Dash downloads repo entry.

On-Demand
ts
import { installDocset } from 'protocol-launcher/dash'

const url = installDocset({
  repoName: 'Ruby Docsets',
  entryName: 'cheatset',
  version: '1.3.3',
})

Generated URLs ​

ts
search({ query: 'string' })
// => 'dash://?query=string'

searchDocsets({ keyword: 'php', query: 'printf' })
// => 'dash://?query=php:printf'

pluginSearch({ keys: 'python,django', query: 'string' })
// => 'dash-plugin://keys=python,django&query=string'

pluginSearch({ keys: 'python,django' })
// => 'dash-plugin://keys=python,django'

pluginSearch({ query: 'string' })
// => 'dash-plugin://query=string'

subscribeFeed({ url: 'http://kapeli.com/feeds/NodeJS.xml' })
// => 'dash-feed://http%3A%2F%2Fkapeli.com%2Ffeeds%2FNodeJS.xml'

installDocset({ repoName: 'Ruby Docsets', entryName: 'cheatset', version: '1.3.3' })
// => 'dash-install://repo_name=Ruby Docsets&entry_name=cheatset&version=1.3.3'

Official Documentation ​